Emirates Group announces record half-year profits

The Emirates Group announced on Thursday its best-ever six-month financial result, reporting a 2023-24 half-year net profit of AED 10.1 billion ($ 2.7 billion).

It surpasses last year's record half-year profit of AED 4.2 billion ($1.2 billion) by 138 per cent.

Group revenue was AED 67.3 billion ($18.3 billion) for the first six months of 2023-24, up 20 per cent from AED 56.3 billion ($15.3 billion) last year, driven by strong demand for air transport across the world, which has been on an upward trajectory since the last pandemic travel restrictions were lifted. 

The Group closed the first half year of 2023-24 with a solid cash position of AED 42.7 billion ($11.6 billion) on September 30, compared to AED 42.5 billion ($11.6 billion) on March 31.

It has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including debt payments, and has so far repaid AED 9.2 billion of its COVID-19-related loans.

The Group also paid AED 4.5 billion in dividend to its owner, as declared at the end of its 2022-23 financial year.

It also reported an EBITDA of AED 20.6 billion ($5.6 billion), a significant improvement from AED 15.3 billion ($4.2 billion) during the same period last year, illustrating its strong operating profitability.

"This is a tremendous achievement that speaks to the talent and commitment within the organisation, the strength of our business model, and power of Dubai’s vision and policies that has enabled the creation of a strong, resilient, and progressive aviation sector," highlighted Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

"Across the Group, we’ve continued to ramp up operations safely and move nimbly to meet customer demand. We’ve implemented a series of service and product enhancements to win customer preference, and we’ll continue to invest in our people, products, partnerships, and technology to strengthen our capabilities and ensure we are future ready.

"For the second half of 2023-24, we expect customer demand across our business divisions to remain healthy and we will stay agile in how we deploy our resources in this dynamic marketplace. At the same time, we are keeping a close watch on headwinds such as rising fuel prices, the strengthening US dollar, inflationary costs, and geo-politics."

To support increased operations and business activities, the Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to March 31, grew six per cent to an overall count of 108,996 on September 30. Both Emirates and dnata have ongoing recruitment drives to support their future requirements.

The airline profit also hit a new record of AED 9.4 billion ($2.6 billion), compared to AED 4.0 billion ($1.1 billion) profit for the same period last year.

Revenue, including other operating income, of AED 59.5 billion ($16.2 billion) was up 19 per cent compared with the AED 50.1 billion ($13.7 billion) recorded in the same period last year. The airline’s record performance is attributable to the strong passenger demand for international travel across markets

Emirates carried 26.1 million passengers between April 1 and September 30, 2023, up 31 per cent from the same period last year.

Emirates Skycargo uplifted 1.35 million tonnes in the first six months of the year, an 11 per cent increase compared to the same period last year despite an overall softening in the global cargo market. 

The Emirates Group has surpassed previous records to report its best-ever half-year performance. The Group’s profit for the first half of 2023-24 has nearly matched its record full year profit in 2022-23.

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— HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (@HHAhmedBinSaeed) November 9, 2023